Climate Change Programming & Resources

Facing a Changing Climate

Have you noticed a sea change?  More intense, more frequent storms? Are we really losing the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic?  From the onset of the Industrial Revolution, humans have been affecting the composition of our atmosphere at an alarming rate, altering our climate.

At the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust we’re very concerned about climate change, an issue that affects all of us–even in Lowell. Below, we hope you find the resources you need to learn more about climate change basics, small and large changes you can make, and, most importantly, stories of hope for our future.

Climate Change Resources:

• City of Lowell sets 2035 sustainability goals.

• Climate Science Special Report

• Q&A with the authors of the Climate Science Special Report

• Video presentation by the authors of the report

• Demystifying the Changing Climate – by Alexandra Vecchio: Learn the basics of climate change, how it will affect Massachusetts, and how you can start having a conversation about it today.

• Climate Change & Urban Quality of Life – tackling climate change and urban poverty together (example from Fresno, CA)

• “What’s Really Warming the World?” from Bloomberg BusinessWeek: an interactive graph that explores causes of climate change

• “Weather Versus Climate” by Neil Degrasse Tyson: a visual to help us understand the difference between weather and climate, a crucial concept behind understanding climate change

• Climate Change Misconceptions: a summary covering the most common misconceptions about climate change (from Building Climate Action Communities workshop materials, compiled by Mass Audubon, Connecticut Audubon, and Audubon Society of Rhode Island)

• NOAA Climate.gov: from the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration, this site contains up-to-date information on climate science–and it’s written for the public, so you don’t need to be a climatologist to read it.

What are people doing about it?

• Conservation in Changing Climate: an online resource with varied information sources about climate change and its localized impacts across the United States

• “Climate Gloom and Doom? Bring it on. But we need stories about action, too”: article from “Green Technology Magazine” on strategies about communicating climate change issues

What can YOU do about it?

• Think Green: “Make the Switch to Green Energy” is program in which you tell your utility company that you’d like to use clean energy for a small extra fee (that is entirely tax-deductible!)

• Plant a tree, or ‘adopt’ one in your neighborhood: The Arbor Day Foundation’s web page “How Trees Fight Climate Change” contains information about trees’ ability to take carbon dioxide out of our over-loaded atmosphere.

• Eat less beef: with the energy and resources it takes to raise cattle, eating beef has a serious environmental impact. This article from Scientific American provides a good summary of the science behind this. Just reducing your beef consumption can make a big difference!

Your Lowell resources for sustainability and climate change action:

• Youth and Climate Change Action

• UMass Lowell Office of Sustainability

• 350ma.org Lowell

• City of Lowell Sustainability Council

• UTEC – Platinum Certified LEED building – electric charging station on Warren Street

• LP&CT’s Eco-film Series – annual featured climate change film

• LP&CT’s Educational Programming 

Have any suggestions for this page? Contact us!